United States v. Boffa

89 F.R.D. 523, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 1734, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedFebruary 17, 1981
DocketCrim. A. No. 80-36
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 89 F.R.D. 523 (United States v. Boffa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Boffa, 89 F.R.D. 523, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 1734, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727 (D. Del. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LATCHUM, Chief Judge.

This is a criminal action in which the defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) and the substantive violation of that Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). In addition, some of the defendants are charged with violating the criminal provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. § 186 and the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341. The eleven count indictment was returned by the Grand Jury on July 14, 1980.

Presently before the Court is defendants’ joint motion for discovery and for a pretrial evidentiary hearing regarding certain issues posed by the status of co-defendant Robert Rispo, who was revealed by the government on January 8, 1981 to have been a government informant. (Docket Item [“D.I.”] 137). In support of their motion, defendants state, upon information and belief, that Rispo has been a government informant since 1973, that he has supplied information regarding the subject matter of the indictment returned in this case and the defendants herein at least since May, 1978, and that he has continued to furnish information to the government after the return of the indictment and up to the present date. (D.I. 137 at 1-2). Defendants further maintain that between the return of the indictment on July 14, 1980 and January 8, 1981, when Rispo’s informant status was disclosed, some of the defendants and their attorneys had conversations with Rispo concerning defense strategy and all the [527]*527attorneys discussed defense strategy with Rispo’s first court-appointed counsel,1 who defendants maintain was unaware of Rispo’s status as a government informant. (D.1.137 at 3). Defendants have moved for a pretrial evidentiary hearing which they claim is necessary to determine whether there has been an improper governmental intrusion into the defendants’ attorney-client relationships. Defendants additionally have moved the Court for an order granting comprehensive discovery of information concerning Rispo in advance of the pretrial evidentiary hearing.

The government has responded to defendants’ motion by providing an affidavit from Ronald Cole, Special Attorney with the Philadelphia Strike Force, who is the attorney currently assigned to prosecute the instant indictment. (D.I. 143). Cole’s affidavit states that: (1) none of the members of the Philadelphia Strike Force has .received any information either from Rispo or any other source which could be characterized as defense tactics; (2) immediately pri- or to the return of the indictment, Joel Friedman, Attorney in Charge, Philadelphia Strike Force, advised Special Agent Frank Storey of the F.B.I., the supervisor of Special Agent Quinn John Tamm who was assigned as case agent to Rispo, that Rispo was going to be indicted; (3) Friedman further advised Storey: (a) that the F.B.I. would have to terminate Rispo as an informant as of the date of the indictment; (b) that if Rispo initiated any contact with the F.B.I., the case agent assigned to Rispo, Quinn John Tamm, was to advise Rispo not to discuss defense tactics with him; and (c) that if, despite Tamm’s instructions, Rispo inadvertently discussed defense tactics with him, Tamm should not disclose the information to the prosecution team; and (4) Storey advised Friedman that the F.B.I. had no objection to Rispo’s indictment and would no longer solicit information from Rispo, and Rispo was subsequently advised not to disclose any information he received from the defendants concerning their defense tactics to the F.B.I. Cole’s affidavit further states that: (5) Robert Rispo is a bona fide defendant; (6) Rispo and the government have entered into a plea agreement which provides that Rispo will plead guilty to Count One of the Indictment (the RICO conspiracy count) and testify on behalf of the government, in exchange for which the government will move to dismiss Count Two at the time of sentencing and will make no recommendation as to the appropriate sentence to be imposed; (7) in connection with the negotiation of the plea agreement, Cole, Kenneth Noto of the Justice Department and certain of the Department of Labor agents assigned to this case had conversations with Rispo; (8) Cole personally instructed Rispo during the course of these negotiations not to disclose any information which could in any way be considered defense tactics; (9) Rispo informed Cole that he did not have any such information in any event; and (10) to the extent that Rispo has provided information to the government concerning the subject matter of the indictment, it was information he acquired prior to the date the indictment was returned.

The government claims that this affidavit has obviated any need for the discovery and pretrial evidentiary hearing sought by the defendants. Moreover, even if the Court determines that an evidentiary hearing on the Rispo issue is in order, the government contends that such a hearing appropriately should be held after trial. By so doing, defendants will avoid the dilemma of being forced to disclose pretrial the exact contents of any communications with Rispo concerning defense strategy which had not heretofore been revealed to the government, and both the defendants and the Court could then assess Rispo’s trial testimony for the purpose of determining whether in fact it contained any information acquired from the defendants or their attorneys subse-. quent to the indictment.

A. Issues Presented

At the outset, the Court must address whether defendants have alleged sufficient [528]*528facts to justify the pretrial evidentiary hearing and discovery they seek. Defendants maintain that they have made a prima facie showing that their constitutional rights have been violated by the government and that a pretrial evidentiary hearing, preceded by wholesale discovery into matters concerning Rispo, is necessary to bring to light the facts underlying the constitutional issues in this case. The government, in turn, contends that defendants have not established a factual predicate for either the discovery or the pretrial evidentiary hearing sought.

In general, an evidentiary hearing need not be granted as a matter of course and must be held “only if the moving papers allege facts with sufficient definiteness, clarity, and specificity to enable the trial court to conclude that relief must be granted if the facts alleged are proved.” United States v. Carrion, 463 F.2d 704, 706 (C.A.9, 1972). General and conclusory factual allegations which are based upon mere suspicion or conjecture, however, will not suffice to necessitate a hearing. Cohen v. United States, 378 F.2d 751, 760 (C.A.9), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 897, 88 S.Ct. 217, 19 L.Ed.2d 215 (1967). Moreover, if facts urged in support of a hearing would not entitle the moving party to relief as a matter of law, no evidentiary hearing is required. See United States v. Irwin, 612 F.2d 1182 (C.A.9, 1980).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 F.R.D. 523, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 1734, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-boffa-ded-1981.